Friday, October 24, 2014

6 Ways My Son Is Like Sheldon From The Big Bang Theory

I've seen a lot of Autism Parents do a post like this so I have no idea who to credit. But I just wanted to mention that I did NOT come up with this on my own. Thank you to all the people who wrote a post similar to this because it gave me inspiration! (If interested, I also wrote about what living with someone with autism taught me here.)

My son Tommy has Aspergers. He is a lot like Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory.

1. I've had to remind him from the time he was tiny that it's polite to ask people how they are doing. Otherwise he'd either just stand there and stare, or leap into a subject he's interested in. For instance, if he met you, he'd either stare or launch into how cool he thinks cumulus clouds are. But then he'd remember, oh right, social skills, even though social skills irk him.

2. He takes things literally. So if you say, "Give me a minute," he expects that it'll take no more than 60 seconds. Otherwise he's all, "This is more than a minute." If I say, "I'm having a ball!" he'll say, "I don't see a ball anywhere."

3. He prefers to be online rather than have to interact with people. Online he doesn't have to worry about social skills and if he's making proper eye contact or if he's freaking someone out by rambling on about tornados and how many people a tornado killed when it hit Oklahoma.

4. He's obsessed with building online followers.He has a YouTube account and gets excited when he sees another follower. He wants people to like him and he knows that's more likely to happen online because he's socially awkward in real life.

5. He's blunt. If he's not interested, he'll either tell you or look extremely bored. Or he'll cut in and start talking about a subject he enjoys. He's gotten better about this, but sometimes I still have to remind him to listen to others and not say, "I just don't care about that."

6. He doesn't like change. He's better at handling it now, but when he was little, the slightest change in his classroom would throw him off. His teachers would tell me it was like he'd scan the room the second he entered, and if something were different, he'd obsess about it. If I get something new for the house, he notices right away. If I make dinner but use different ingredients, he knows and he's not pleased.

I would have to train myself with him, not to say, "Just a minute!" I say that to my kids constantly and of course, it usually means 20 minutes.I remember one of the first kids I met with Autism when I was already an adult. I was delivering pizza and this kid was about eight or so and he was talking very specifically about toys, which I was down with, and I told him very specifically about the ones I had.

To make a long story short, what to me was just an enjoyable conversation was very meaningful to his mother. She ran after me to my car and put some more bills in my hand and said two things:

1. "You're the only pizza deliverer who actually put the blue cheese in with the cold soda. I HATE when they put it with the pizza." (umm...logic)

2. "You're one of the only people who speaks so well to my son. Thank you."

I saw a meme the other day that was a picture of Sheldon. It read "Autism: Stop laughing at it." That is kind of true! But in a way, maybe the show humanizes it a little. The show's writers don't want to say that he's on the spectrum but the actor who plays Sheldon has said he thinks the character definitely is. Maybe the writers were inspired by someone they knew who is autistic or has Asperger's? Your son sounds charming! Sheldon is lovable for all of those reasons you listed, I think. I had a friend once who would be talking to you on the phone and say, "I'm through talking to you now." You have to kind of admire that kind of bluntness!

I've never even see Big bang theory, but I KNEW that this would be a great post! I love it!!! And I love how your blog brings awareness to autism, and also "normalizes" it. I think Tommy is pretty awesome too, and I've never even met him...thanks to his awesome mom!

Visiting from SITS! I love GIFs, too. Have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy? I bet your son can relate to one of the characters, who is totally literal. I'd also point you towards Adrienne at The Mommy Mess who's teen is on the spectrum. I love her writing.

I think Sheldon has a lot of traits that people could have in common with him whether or not they are on the spectrum. After the Friendship Algorithm episode, I was making dinner one night and my younger son, who was 4 at the time, was asking what I was making and then said "I don't like that. What else are we having?" We kept going in circles about that. He also has some other mannerisms of Sheldon's that I notice from time to time. Like being literal about time, for instance. My older son is blunt. Anyway, this was a fun post to read.

My oldest, Colin, isn't autistic (though we suspected he might be and he actually went through a bunch of testing last year to rule it out). But people are FOREVER telling me how much he reminds me of Sheldon. I've never seen the show, so I'm never sure whether or not to take it as a compliment! Ha!

I have seen this type of comparison made on other blogs before and I like them each time. I like that Tommy is a keen observer, I'm super oblivious and hardly notice shit and it gets me in trouble from time to time. I need a Tommy!

It's funny - I read some of those things and thought that's just like me!!! I definitely tend to go towards being online because I figure it's more likely people will like me. Tommy sounds like fun to me!

This is a very cool comparison. I think it's awesome that there is someone in the media that our kids can look up to and see themselves in. It's always great to see yourself represented and this list is awesome!

This is great!! It's truly special to see that he enjoys Sheldon's character too! We all do, so it's not even just people "alike" who can like Sheldon - that says something! Everyone's quirks can be lovable to all people!

I think it's amazing that you can take Tommy's quirks and turn them into things to love about him. My daughters both have issues - my oldest was diagnosed with ADHD, but has since learned to control the hyperactivity and impulse control issues to the point that we just think of it as ADD now. My youngest though - she's officially diagnosed with ADHD, but I tend to think this isn't entirely correct. I believe with all my heart that she is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum, and as she begins to really notice (she's 7) how different she is from other people, it breaks my heart. I've been brainstorming positive sides to her quirks too, so this post actually gave me some great things to talk about with her.

My daughter loves Sheldon as well. Although I would be a little worried if she were more like him. Thankfully she does like to interact with people, and we haven't allowed that kind of screen time on computers or phones yet so she could socialize through there.

My son is a lot like Sheldon as well. He is also an Aspie kid and has lots of trouble interacting with his peers. But one thing he does have is a sense of humor. He is starting to understand sarcasm and in my house, that's imperative.

Sheldon is absolutely hilarious. For him being a genius it cracks me up his lack of understanding of people's emotions and social norms. I always would just say well he says things we want to but are to polite to say. It was great seeing how to compared them.

Hubby and the girls love Sheldon. I think it's because in many ways, they can relate. my son is the only family member with an ASD diagnosis, but pretty much all of us have at least some of the traits.

I didn't see many episodes of Big Bang Theory but in the few I did, I surely noticed Sheldon was kind of anti-social, but funny in the same way. I think your son is adorable if he is similar with Sheldon.

Big Bang Theory is one of my faves and Sheldon is my favorite character. I wish the producers would have identified Sheldon as having Autism rather than let viewers speculate on whether or not he does. I think it would help so many in the community and open conversations about Autism.

My son is very much a Sheldon. He has no spectrum diagnosis, but I'm positive they bugged my house because my sons has a said a lot of the same things Sheldon says. He even pulled the "That's my spot." at our family reunion a few weeks ago.